Birmingham

Tuesday March 1st 2011

at 5.05pm in the Danford Room

A reading by two distinguished Nigerian poets

FEMI OYEBODE

&

TOLU OGUNLESI

FEMI OYEBODE is Professor of Psychiatry at the university of Birmingham. He has also published several books of poems, including a volume of Selected Poems published in the Kraftgriots series in 2003. He has been an Honorary Fellow in CWAS for many years.

TOLU OGUNLESI is a highly regarded poet and cultural commentator. In 2009 he won the Arts & Culture Award at the CNN African Journalist of the Year Awards for his story, ‘What the Truck?’, which was chosen from among 836 entries from 38 nations across the African continent. He is currently enrolled on the MA in Creative Writing at University of East Anglia.

All are welcome

Christian Campbell (Bahamas), myself (Nigeria) and Oumar Farouk Sesay (Sierra Leone) – the three 2009 Cadbury Visiting Fellows at the Center of West African Studies (CWAS), University of Birmingham, read at the Birmingham Central Library yesterday evening, and answered a couple of interesting questions on poetry, the Black Experience (interprete as you wish) and Barack Obama.

It was interesting to note the divergencies – and occasional convergencies – in our themes and concerns and approaches, and the ways in which we applied / utilised our words (which are all we’ve got anyway, as poets). As well as the ways in which our countries influenced – or did not influence – our work.

And then we were treated to a wonderful Chinese dinner afterwards by our hosts at CWAS, at Wagamama (near the Birmingham City center).

The Coventry International Festival of Literature is our next stop. Friday the 15th of May.